Paper Mâché Art: My Art Is A Process, It's Never "Finished"...
This post was originally published Apr. 6/2016... I've republished it on Dec 21/21, so it appears in the proper viewing order...
Because of its flexibility and mode of construction, Paper Mâché is ideally suited to working with things in perpetual process....always in a state of becoming....and this is another reason why I enjoy working with it SO MUCH!
The picture above is of a "jug" I've been working with... part way through its process.... For awhile, I thought it was "finished" as you see it in this picture.... but then... the handle needed work and it became...
It's done, for now, as you see it in the pictures above, but....
My work is always in process.... Some pieces are more "finished" than others.... and sometimes I think they're "finished".... They look finished and I don't have further instructions.... but usually they're just resting.....They can rest, seemingly finished, for years and then suddenly I'll notice something "not quite right" which needs altering.... and I'm back in the midst of a process of becoming with them... I don't like to sell my art, because I'd miss the process.... and like with life, it's the process which feels MOST important...
The two pictures below clearly demonstrate the "process" nature of my work... They are of the same piece... but... The one on the left is "Wind Chimes with Golden Ball" as it was in 2009 when I used this picture on my web-site.... However, now, several years later, with the addition of the egg, the wheel, some butterflies and more ribbon and beading, it has become "The Wheel of Fortune"... When I used it on my web-site, I already understood the tangled golden ball represented confusion... but, I had no idea what it was to become... I didn't know why it needed an egg or a wheel or.... However, as I worked on it, its name became clear and then so did the rich symbolism of each part.... which has yielded an uncommon interpretation of this tarot card...
The picture below shows two pieces which are definitely "un-finished" ... They're resting like this until I know what I need to do with them... In the meantime, I sit with them and enjoy their structural "beauty"... The one on the right uses an old shampoo bottle as a framework, with sand in the bottom under the bottle, to give it weight. It was made as a vase and can hold water, but I didn't have anything to put in it....so the top came into being.... The one on the left uses an empty peanut butter container and is used to hold string.... My sense is that it wants to be an "elf" who sits on my counter top.... I've never created a three dimensional "elf" before, and have never done a face with paper Mâché, so I don't know how it becomes....
Instead of selling my art, I prefer to share it... particularly when I can use it to demonstrate process and the value of process... My books, with their blend of art and writing and their description of how I work with my art to discover parts of me are therefore perfect venues for the kind of sharing of my work which I like to do.....Several of my posts here are also about process in general and the creative process in particular.... If you search creativity or process you'll find them... If you're interested, my web-site (https://www.sylviakay.ca) gives more information about my books and art...
I hope you enjoy my exhibition... I plan to do seven of these posts, so you're welcome to come back to see more.... or revisit ones you've already seen as many times as you wish...and please pass the information about this exhibition on to others you think may be interested... However, since gardening season is now beginning... the other posts in this series may emerge slowly...
This Post's Flavor(s): art, creativity, process
Click on any of these under "Labels" in the list on the right to bring up posts with a similar flavor...
The picture above is of a "jug" I've been working with... part way through its process.... For awhile, I thought it was "finished" as you see it in this picture.... but then... the handle needed work and it became...
It's done, for now, as you see it in the pictures above, but....
My work is always in process.... Some pieces are more "finished" than others.... and sometimes I think they're "finished".... They look finished and I don't have further instructions.... but usually they're just resting.....They can rest, seemingly finished, for years and then suddenly I'll notice something "not quite right" which needs altering.... and I'm back in the midst of a process of becoming with them... I don't like to sell my art, because I'd miss the process.... and like with life, it's the process which feels MOST important...
The two pictures below clearly demonstrate the "process" nature of my work... They are of the same piece... but... The one on the left is "Wind Chimes with Golden Ball" as it was in 2009 when I used this picture on my web-site.... However, now, several years later, with the addition of the egg, the wheel, some butterflies and more ribbon and beading, it has become "The Wheel of Fortune"... When I used it on my web-site, I already understood the tangled golden ball represented confusion... but, I had no idea what it was to become... I didn't know why it needed an egg or a wheel or.... However, as I worked on it, its name became clear and then so did the rich symbolism of each part.... which has yielded an uncommon interpretation of this tarot card...
The picture below shows two pieces which are definitely "un-finished" ... They're resting like this until I know what I need to do with them... In the meantime, I sit with them and enjoy their structural "beauty"... The one on the right uses an old shampoo bottle as a framework, with sand in the bottom under the bottle, to give it weight. It was made as a vase and can hold water, but I didn't have anything to put in it....so the top came into being.... The one on the left uses an empty peanut butter container and is used to hold string.... My sense is that it wants to be an "elf" who sits on my counter top.... I've never created a three dimensional "elf" before, and have never done a face with paper Mâché, so I don't know how it becomes....
Instead of selling my art, I prefer to share it... particularly when I can use it to demonstrate process and the value of process... My books, with their blend of art and writing and their description of how I work with my art to discover parts of me are therefore perfect venues for the kind of sharing of my work which I like to do.....Several of my posts here are also about process in general and the creative process in particular.... If you search creativity or process you'll find them... If you're interested, my web-site (https://www.sylviakay.ca) gives more information about my books and art...
I hope you enjoy my exhibition... I plan to do seven of these posts, so you're welcome to come back to see more.... or revisit ones you've already seen as many times as you wish...and please pass the information about this exhibition on to others you think may be interested... However, since gardening season is now beginning... the other posts in this series may emerge slowly...
This Post's Flavor(s): art, creativity, process
Click on any of these under "Labels" in the list on the right to bring up posts with a similar flavor...
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